Newsstand Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacers Won’t Sign Guard Monte Morris

September 25th, 2025 at 4:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

September 25: Morris won’t be signing with the Pacers after all, since he recently suffered a calf strain, general manager Chad Buchanan told reporters on Thursday (Twitter link via Tony East).

September 23: Veteran point guard Monte Morris has agreed to a one-year contract with the Pacers, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets. It will be a non-guaranteed deal, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.

The Pacers have 13 players on the roster with fully guaranteed contracts, so there’s room for Morris to earn his way onto the opening night roster. Indiana had a full camp roster, so the team will need to make a corresponding move to complete the signing.

With Tyrese Haliburton expected to miss the entire season, Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell are expected to hold down the top two spots at the point. Morris can provide insurance at that position if he makes the team.

Morris, 30, played 45 games off the bench for the Suns last season. He averaged 5.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 12.7 minutes per contest.

Morris has also played for Denver, Washington, Detroit and Minnesota. Overall, he has seen action in 420 NBA regular season contests and has averaged 9.5 points and 3.6 assists in 23.4 minutes with solid shooting numbers (47.4% overall and 38.9% on threes).

Lakers Sign Coach J.J. Redick To Contract Extension

September 25th, 2025 at 4:12pm CST by Rory Maher

The Lakers have extended the contract of head coach J.J. Redick, president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka announced today (Twitter link via Dan Woike of The Athletic).

Pelinka cited the team’s “confidence” and “belief” in Redick as primary factors in the deal being reached, tweets Law Murray of The Athletic.

Redick, 41, compiled a 50-32 record in 2024/25 as a first-time head coach with Los Angeles. The Lakers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Minnesota in five games.

Redick reportedly received a four-year contract worth about $8MM annually last summer when he was initially hired by the Lakers. It’s unclear how many new years were added as part of his extension.

A former NBA sharpshooter who played 15 seasons in the league from 2006-2021, Redick had preexisting connections to the L.A. area, having spent four seasons with the Clippers during his playing days.

Redick was long viewed as the frontrunner for the Lakers’ head coaching job after they fired Darvin Ham in 2024 following a first-round playoff exit. The Lakers reportedly made a lucrative contract offer to UConn coach Dan Hurley last summer, but he decided to stay with the Huskies.

Heat Sign Precious Achiuwa To One-Year Deal

September 25th, 2025 at 4:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder

September 25: Miami has signed Achiuwa, the team announced in press release. In a corresponding move, Gabe Madsen has been waived, per the Heat.

September 24: The Heat have agreed to a one-year contract with big man Precious Achiuwa, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports (via Twitter). It’s a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary deal, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald (Twitter link).

Achiuwa was one of the top remaining frontcourt players on the free agent market. He appeared in 57 games with the Knicks last season, including 10 starts, and averaged 6.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per night. Achiuwa also saw limited minutes in eight postseason games.

Miami’s interest in signing him was reported earlier this month.

It’s the second stint for Achiuwa in the Heat organization. They drafted him with the No. 20 overall pick in 2020 and he played 61 games as a rookie.

Miami then traded him to Toronto in a deal that sent Kyle Lowry to the Heat. He played two-and-a-half seasons with the Raptors before getting traded to the Knicks during the 2023/24 season.

Achiuwa will provide depth at the power forward and center spots, assuming he makes the 15-man roster. Miami had a full camp roster and will have to shed a player to make the signing official.

If Achiuwa does stick with the Heat for the regular season, the team’s salary would move slightly above the luxury tax line. However, since luxury tax penalties are based on salaries at the end of the season, Miami would have until the trade deadline to duck back below that threshold.

Bulls Re-Sign Josh Giddey To Four-Year Deal

September 25th, 2025 at 3:54pm CST by Luke Adams

September 25: Giddey’s four-year contract is now official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

September 9: The Bulls and restricted free agent guard Josh Giddey are in agreement on a four-year, $100MM contract, agent Daniel Moldovan tells Shams Charania of ESPN. It’s a fully guaranteed contract with no player or team option, Charania adds.

Giddey, who was one of four top restricted free agents still unsigned when September began, will get the most lucrative contract any RFA has signed so far this summer and will become one of just five free agents to receive at least $100MM this offseason, joining Naz Reid, Kyrie Irving, Myles Turner, and Julius Randle.

The sixth overall pick in the 2021 draft, Giddey spent his first three NBA seasons in Oklahoma City, but wasn’t an ideal fit on a Thunder roster that featured star point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The 6’8″ Australian guard was traded to the Bulls during the 2024 offseason straight up for defensive ace Alex Caruso.

Chicago faced plenty of criticism for its decision to send out one of its most valuable trade chips for a player who had just been benched by the Thunder in the postseason, without getting any sort of draft compensation in the deal. But the Bulls were confident in Giddey’s ability to thrive in more of a primary ball-handling role, and he responded with the best year of his career, setting new personal highs in rebounds (8.1) and assists (7.2) per game, as well as three-point percentage (37.8%).

While Giddey had an up-and-down first half in Chicago, he thrived in the second half, particularly after the team traded away Zach LaVine. Between the All-Star break and the end of the season, the 22-year-old nearly averaged a triple-double, with 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, 9.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game and a .500/.457/.809 shooting line. His usage rate, which had been 20.2% prior to the All-Star break, was 24.9% the rest of the way, and the Bulls won 12 of those 19 games.

The year-to-year details of Giddey’s new deal aren’t yet known, but the Bulls will have a significant amount of cap flexibility going forward – including a big chunk of cap room in 2026 and/or 2027 – no matter how it’s structured. Prior to Giddey’s agreement, Patrick Williams had been the only player on the roster owed guaranteed money beyond the 2026/27 season.

The Bulls put out a press release announcing Giddey’s new deal shortly after Charania reported it, but have since removed that announcement from their website and their Twitter account. That’s likely a case of the team’s PR staff jumping the gun on the official announcement, not a sign that the agreement has fallen through.

With Giddey re-signing and Nets guard Cam Thomas having accepted his qualifying offer, just two notable restricted free agents still don’t have deals in place: Jonathan Kuminga of the Warriors and Quentin Grimes of the Sixers. They have until October 1 to accept their respective qualifying offers.

Agent: Sixers Offered Grimes Four-Year, $39MM Contract

September 25th, 2025 at 3:40pm CST by Rory Maher

The Sixers‘ first formal offer for restricted free agent Quentin Grimes, which occurred on Wednesday, was a four-year, $39MM contract, agent David Bauman told Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

According to Mizell, a source familiar with the negotiations “slightly pushed back” on that statement, noting the two sides have had “hours and hours” of contract discussions this offseason while characterizing the team’s offer as tentative rather than firm.

Bauman thinks Grimes should be earning $20-25MM annually on his next deal, which Philadelphia is unwilling to offer, Mizell writes.

Despite the significant gap in Grimes’ perceived long-term value, the Sixers still value the 25-year-old shooting guard, viewing him as a “significant part” of their future, that same source told The Inquirer.

Bauman, who confirmed to Mizell that Grimes won’t attend Friday’s media day or travel with the team for a pair of preseason contests in Abu Dhabi, said Grimes’ absence shouldn’t be viewed as a holdout.

As first reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania, the most likely outcome appears to either be Grimes accepting his $8.7MM qualifying offer or signing a more lucrative one-year deal while waiving his implied no-trade clause, Mizell writes.

According to Mizell, Bauman has asked the 76ers to extend Grimes’ deadline to accept the QO. The current deadline is next Wednesday, October 1, but a team and player can agree to push it back.

Grimes was acquired from Dallas in a February trade, joining a Sixers team that was decimated by injuries and had difficulty fielding a competitive roster. He averaged a career-best 21.9 PPG in 28 contests with Philadelphia, also posting career-best marks of 5.2 RPG, 4.5 APG and 1.5 SPG in 33.7 MPG.

Cavs Sign Thomas Bryant To One-Year Deal

September 25th, 2025 at 3:05pm CST by Luke Adams

September 25, 3:05 pm: Bryant is officially a Cavalier, according to a team press release.

September 23, 5:00 pm: The contract is non-guaranteed, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

September 23, 1:03 pm: The Cavaliers and free agent center Thomas Bryant have agreed to terms on a one-year deal, agents Mark Bartelstein and Zach Kurtin tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

A former second-round pick who entered the NBA in 2017, Bryant has appeared in a total of 333 regular season games for the Lakers, Wizards, Nuggets, Heat, and Pacers. He began last season in Miami, then was traded to Indiana on December 15, the first day he became eligible to be dealt.

Providing depth in a Pacers frontcourt that had lost James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson to season-ending Achilles tears, Bryant appeared in 56 games for Indiana, averaging 6.9 points and 3.9 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per night.

The 28-year-old didn’t play a major role during the team’s run to the NBA Finals, but made brief appearances in most games, averaging 2.6 PPG and 1.4 RPG in 8.4 MPG across 20 playoff outings.

The terms of Bryant’s agreement aren’t yet known, so it’s unclear whether the Cavaliers envision him being part of the their regular season roster. Cleveland only currently has 13 players on standard contracts, but likely won’t carry a 15th man into opening night due to luxury-tax concerns — it’s possible the team will bring in more veterans besides Bryant to compete for the 14th roster spot.

If Bryant does make the team, he would add depth behind Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, and fellow newcomer Larry Nance Jr.

Rockets’ Fred VanVleet Undergoes Surgery For Torn ACL

September 25th, 2025 at 2:10pm CST by Rory Maher

September 25: VanVleet underwent successful surgery today to repair his ACL tear, reports Iko of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).

September 22: Rockets guard Fred VanVleet has sustained a torn ACL, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.

According to Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), VanVleet suffered the right knee injury at an unofficial team mini-camp in the Bahamas. The one-time All-Star and 2019 NBA champion will undergo surgery this week, Iko adds.

It’s a devastating blow for both Houston and VanVleet, who re-signed with the Rockets this summer on a two-year, $50MM contract.

VanVleet will earn $25MM each of the next two seasons, with a player option for 2026/27 he seems likely to exercise now that he appears destined to miss the entire ’25/26 campaign with a major knee injury.

VanVleet, 31, has been one of the keys to Houston’s dramatic turnaround. The Rockets went 17-55, 20-62 and 22-60 in the three years before he signed with the team as a free agent in 2023. With VanVleet as the starting point guard, Houston had a 41-41 record in ’23/24, followed by a 52-30 mark last season.

While VanVleet took a minor statistical step back last season in several categories, averaging 14.1 points, 5.6 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals while shooting 34.5% on three-pointers in 60 regular season games, the Rockets were consistently better when he was on the court (+6.2) than when he was off it (+2.9).

VanVleet also had a strong playoff showing in Houston’s first-round loss to Golden State, averaging 18.7 PPG, 4.4 APG, 4.1 RPG and 1.1 SPG while shooting 43.5% from long distance in the seven-game series. When he was on the court in the playoffs, the Rockets had a +3.9 net rating in 280 minutes; in the 56 minutes he didn’t play, their net rating was an abysmal -17.1.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), the Rockets will likely apply for a disabled player exception in the wake of VanVleet’s injury. However, they’re hard-capped at the first apron and are currently only $1.25MM below that threshold, meaning they’re not in position to use that DPE to add a 15th man to the roster.

Given their position relative to the hard cap, the Rockets won’t be able to even sign a free agent to a minimum-salary contract until January unless they reduce their team salary in a trade.

Reed Sheppard, Amen Thompson and Aaron Holiday are among the candidates to receive more minutes and ball-handling duties for Houston in the wake of VanVleet’s unfortunate injury.

Jazz Sign Mo Bamba

September 25th, 2025 at 1:10pm CST by Rory Maher

1:10pm: Bamba has officially signed with the Jazz, according to a press release from the club.

11:38am: The Jazz intend to sign free agent center Mo Bamba, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Scotto doesn’t specify what type of contract Bamba will sign, but given the timing and the fact that Utah has 15 players on guaranteed standard deals, it seems likely to be a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 contract that may contain Exhibit 10 language as well.

The Jazz currently have 20 players on their roster (two on Exhibit 10 deals and three on two-way contracts in addition to the other 15), one shy of the offseason limit. Signing Bamba will put them at 21.

Bamba, 27, was the sixth overall pick of the 2018 draft after one college season at Texas. He holds seven years of NBA experience, mostly with Orlando.

After signing a minimum-salary deal with Philadelphia in 2023/24, Bamba hit free agency again last summer and signed another veteran’s minimum contract, this time with the Clippers. He appeared in 28 games with L.A. before being traded to Utah in a salary-dump deal involving P.J. Tucker. The Jazz waived him the following day.

Bamba spent some time in the G League with the Pelicans’ affiliate while looking for another NBA opportunity and found one on March 10, when he signed a 10-day deal with New Orleans. Bamba has been an unrestricted free agent since that contract expired.

In 32 appearances last season with the Clips and Pels, Bamba averaged 4.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 block in 13.2 minutes per game. He holds career averages of 6.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 1.3 BPG in 364 games (16.8 MPG).

Bamba reportedly drew interest from multiple EuroLeague teams this offseason, but we hadn’t seen him linked to an NBA club until now.

Kings, Warriors Resume Kuminga Sign-And-Trade Talks

September 24th, 2025 at 9:48pm CST by Luke Adams

After going more than a month without engaging in discussions regarding a potential Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade, the Kings and Warriors resumed their conversations earlier this week, team sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic.

According to Amick, the two Pacific Division rivals didn’t make significant progress in those talks, but the fact that they happened at all indicates that Sacramento hasn’t closed the door on making a move for the restricted free agent forward.

The Kings were considered the top rival suitor earlier in the offseason for Kuminga, offering him a three-year, $63MM contract and offering Golden State a package of Malik Monk and a lottery-protected 2030 first-round pick.

As Amick writes, there are a number of reasons why the Warriors turned down that offer. For one, they don’t appear all that enthusiastic about acquiring Monk — there are questions about his fit on the roster, plus his $21.6MM player option for 2027/28 doesn’t appeal to Golden State from a cap perspective. According to Amick, the Warriors would likely want to flip Monk to another team, but it’s unclear if such an opportunity would be available at this point.

Another potential sticking point for the Warriors is the fact that swapping Kuminga straight up for Monk would hard-cap the team at the first tax apron due to base year compensation rules. That would complicate Golden State’s ability to fill out the rest of its roster, including signing Al Horford using the taxpayer mid-level exception.

The Warriors would likely have to trade either Buddy Hield or Moses Moody to a third team to avoid that first-apron hard cap. Prior reporting stated that Golden State didn’t have much interest in taking that route, and Amick suggests that stance has only gotten stronger as of late.

Finally, while Sacramento is unlikely to entirely remove the protections from the 2030 first-round pick they’re including in their offer, the Warriors would likely want those protections lightened in order to seriously consider making a deal with the Kings, Amick continues. In Sacramento’s current offer, the Warriors would receive the least favorable of the Kings’ and Spurs’ 2031 first-rounders if the 2030 pick lands in the lottery.

Recent reporting indicated that Golden State has made new offers to Kuminga, including one three-year, $75MM proposal that includes a third-year team option. However, the 22-year-old’s agent, Aaron Turner, continues to suggest that accepting the $8MM qualifying offer – which comes with a no-trade clause and a clear path to 2026 unrestricted free agency – is a viable option for his client.

Turner told ESPN’s Shams Charania on Wednesday that the Warriors’ insistence on a team option in the final year of their two- and three-year offers has been a sticking point for Kuminga and his reps.

Kuminga has until October 1 to sign his qualifying offer, so resolution should come – one way or another – within the next week.

Jazz, Walker Kessler Unlikely To Reach Extension Agreement

September 24th, 2025 at 9:40pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Despite having held “multiple meetings”over the summer, the Jazz and fourth-year center Walker Kessler are not expected to reach an agreement on a rookie scale contract extension before the regular season begins, sources inform Tony Jones of The Athletic.

Utah has put a formal offer on the table for Kessler, but hasn’t come close to agreeing to terms, per Jones. If the two sides don’t agree to a deal this fall, the seven-footer will reach restricted free agency next summer.

As Jones explains, the Jazz value Kessler’s skill set, viewing him as one of the top defenders at his position in the league and an important part of their future. However, holding off an extension for the time being will benefit the team from a salary cap perspective.

As a restricted free agent in 2026, Kessler would have a cap hold of just $14.9MM. Since any extension would likely feature a much more lucrative starting salary, completing a deal now would limit Utah’s cap flexibility next offseason.

The Lakers, who have expressed interest in Kessler in the past, are among the teams on track to have cap room available next offseason, Jones observes. With rival suitors potentially lurking, Jones suggests that Utah’s front office may want to prepare a number it’s comfortable with and have an offer ready for its starting center at the beginning of free agency in 2026.

With Kessler poised to play major minutes on a tanking team, a spike in production is a possibility. In 58 healthy bouts last season, the 24-year-old out of Auburn averaged a career-best 11.1 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, 1.7 assists and 0.6 steals per game.